Collaboration of the Nigerian Embassy in the deportation of Nigerians from Germany
As we, the Caravan for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants, Munich, have recently learned, the Nigerian Embassy is coming to Munich, Germany, in order to issue ‚travel certificates‘ (TC) for Nigerians living in Munich to the end of their deportation from Germany. The Bavarian Foreigners‘ Authorities have sent letters summoning Nigerians to attend this hearing with the Nigerian Embassy taking place on Wednesday, the 8th of August in the Munich refugee camp in Tischlerstrasse, and the hearings may well span over several days. The Nigerians summoned are being told that they have to attend in order to have their identity clarified, which means that if they are identified as being a Nigerian citizen, they will be issued a TC which in turn will allow the German authorities to deport them to Nigeria.
We strongly protest this decision of the Nigerian Embassy to neglect their duty to look after the welfare of their citizens abroad and rather collaborate with the German Authorities in order to tear Nigerians living in Bavaria out of their lives here and help to put them, forcefully, on a plane bound to Nigeria. This is not the first time that the Nigerian Embassy has come to Munich Tischlerstrasse. When they held these hearings in 2004, we observed a large number of deportations of Nigerians afterwards. We also want to state plainly that with this decision, the Embassy is assuming responsibility for the inhuman and degrading practice of deportation, a practice that already has lead to numerous deaths. It is not long ago that the Nigerian citizen Osamuyia Aikpitanhi was killed by Spanish officers while being deported from Spain in June 2007. The list of persons killed during a deportation is however much longer.